Market Closes on Wall Street With Little Change

By Reuters

July 23, 2014

Stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closing at a record on Apple’s bullish results. But Boeing weighed on the Dow Jones industrials, and conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip kept the broader market’s gains in check.

Biotechnology stocks ranked among the biggest gainers, bolstered by strong results and drug trial data. The Nasdaq biotech index jumped 2.2 percent in its fourth consecutive day of gains.

Apple gave one of the biggest lifts to the market, rising 2.6 percent to $97.19 as concerns faded about the its margins. Microsoft rose 0.1 percent to $44.87 after the company said it aimed to get its money-losing Nokia phone unit to break even within two years.

“Earnings season has been going very well, beating on both the top and bottom line, which suggests companies will continue to execute well,” said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments.

About 68.5 percent of the S.&P. 500 components have reported earnings above expectations, topping the long-term average of 63 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. On the revenue side, 63.1 percent have beaten forecasts, above the historical average of 61 percent.

Overseas issues continued to limit the market’s gains.

“There’s a battle going on in the market between earnings and geopolitical issues, and right now, it looks like earnings have a slight edge,” Mr. Gayle said. “These are big areas of concern, but they’ve yet to translate to anything tangible from an economic standpoint.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.91 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 17,086.63. The S.&P. 500 gained 3.48 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 1,987.01, surpassing the record set on July 3. The Nasdaq composite index added 17.68 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,473.70.

Boeing fell 2.3 percent, to $126.71. The aircraft maker reported a 52 percent increase in quarterly profit, but investors were wary of rising costs in its military tanker program.

PepsiCo rose 1.9 percent to $90.82 after it reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

In the biotech sector, Biogen Idec reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue on surging sales of its new treatment for multiple sclerosis and raised its full-year profit forecast. Its stock rose 11.2 percent to $337.60.

Intuitive Surgical rose 17.7 percent to $461.63 and was the S.&P. 500’s biggest percentage gainer a day after the company, maker of the da Vinci robot surgical system, reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations.